‘COMPLETE DISBELIEF’

11-Year-Old Florida Boy Dies From Flesh-Eating Bacteria After Twisting Ankle

Jesse Brown’s leg was “covered in splotchy, purply, red, almost like bruises” just a few days after he hurt his ankle on a treadmill.

Born a miracle baby to parents who’d been trying to have a child for a decade, Jesse Brown grew into a motocross-loving “old soul” of a Floridian fifth grader, his family said this week. That all came to an end recently, when Brown died of a flesh-eating bacteria that took hold after he hurt his ankle on a treadmill. “In my mind, I was in complete disbelief,” Brown’s cousin told FOX 35 Orlando on Wednesday. “I was like, ‘he’ll be fine. This could never happen to our family.’” Brown’s twisted ankle rapidly devolved into something far more horrifying, with his mother waking up a few days later to find the 11-year-old’s leg “covered in splotchy, purply, red” marks, the cousin said, “almost like bruises.” The boy was rushed to a hospital, where he was diagnosed with group A Streptococcus, bacteria that would turn into the flesh-eating necrotizing fasciitis that would kill him within days. “Everyone who met Jesse loved him,” the cousin wrote on a GoFundMe page set up for Brown’s family. “He was hilarious, his laugh was contagious, and he just lit up the room.” On a memorial page, Brown’s elementary school added that the boy “was kind and compassionate… adventurous and truly an amazing friend and classmate.”